The invention relates to a delabeler and particularly to an apparatus which removes labels from a series of containers while moving along a processing line.
Containers, such as beer bottles, may at times be improperly labeled by a high speed bottling operation wherein fluid, such as beer or other sorts of beverages, has been inserted into the bottle and sealed by a cap to be in condition for storage, shipment and consumption by the ultimate purchaser.
Frequently, a strong adhesive is used to maintain rigid adherence of the labels to the bottle in order to prevent such labels from being accidentally or deliberately removed prior to usage by the ultimate consumer. When mis-labeling occurs, such as might occur through changes in labeling regulations occurring prior to shipment or sale of previously filled and labeled containers, the labels must be completely removed before correct labels can be applied to the bottles.
Where the containers contain substances for human consumption, such as beer for example, it is undesirable to employ caustic agents for label removal because of the concern of finding caustic residue remaining in and about the cap following such label removal process. Previous mechanical label removers which operate without caustic solutions have experienced great difficulty in effectuating complete label removal and particularly in the complete removal of both the label and the associated adhesive from the container surface. Frequently, such labels must be immersed in fluid during a delabeling process to effect complete label removal. Such difficulty in removal has been particularly experienced with foil type labels which have been found to provide extreme resistance to label removing processes which do not employ caustic solutions.